Month: March 2018

Aparna, played by Nikita Redkar, left, is on a mission to get a “revenge bod” in the first season of “Gym Buddies.” Here she mixes up a smoothie with her friend Quinn, played by Chelsea Lane. Photo courtesy Gym Buddies.

If you’ve spent much time at a strip center gym, you know the type: The determined customer who pops in for a few months in pursuit of the ever-elusive “revenge bod.”

That’s the theme behind the first season of a new web comedy series called “Gym Buddies,” that’s set and filmed at Move weightlifting gym right here in Austin.

Austin-based comedy writer Shruti Saran created the show, which follows the exploits of two friends who join a fitness club after one of them is dumped by her boyfriend. As the series progresses, the initial goal of attaining the perfect post-breakup body morphs into something a tad more fulfilling.

Quinn, left, and Aparna, right, attempt to work out at the gym. Photo courtesy “Gym Buddies”

“Think about it. We’re going to work out together, I’m going to get a superhot bod, I’m going to accidentally tag Neil in one of my transformation photos,” Aparna tells her best friend Quinn during the first episode.

When Quinn protests that her logic might not be so healthy, Aparna fires back, “This isn’t about health, Quinn, this is about getting back at a douche bag who thinks I need to emotionally mature a little, and coming out on top. This is about feminism.”

“We’re passing through a really interesting cultural moment right now for women’s rights and feminism, and as a female writer I obviously have a lot of thoughts on the subject,” Saran said in a press release. “I chose not to create something super on the nose, but it was important to me that ‘Gym Buddies’ be female-focused.”

The five-episode first season stars local stand-up comedian Nikita Redkar, a writer, actress and improviser who performs around Austin with the troupe Y’all We Asia and co-hosts the comedy dating show “Naughty Bits”; and Chelsea Lane, lead singer of Austin cover band Blind Date. It’s directed by Matthew Evan Daniels.

Hamilton Pool Preserve is a Travis County Park with a waterfall, pool and creek. Reservations are required to enter the park. LAURA SKELDING/AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Want to dip a toe in Hamilton Pool this summer? Better make a reservation soon.

You may recall that Hamilton Pool Preserve, home of one of the state’s most popular natural swimming holes, instituted a reservation system two years ago. Travis County commissioners implemented the system after overcrowding problems at the park and traffic snarls on Ranch Road 12.

Reservations are needed between March 1 and Oct. 31, and on weekends and holidays during November and December.

Reservations are open for the rest of the year at Hamilton Pool Preserve. LAURA SKELDING/AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Cost is $10 for the reservation plus a $1 service fee, paid online with a credit card, and an additional $15 entrance fee that must be paid at the pool (cash or local check, no credit card). After you make your online reservation, print your receipt or save it on your cell phone and bring it with you to the park.

SXSW isn’t all about music or technology. Participants enjoyed yoga on the lawn outside the Four Seasons during last year’s festival. HANDOUT

Just because you’re probably going to stay up late, drink too much and ruin your feet standing around at bars next week, your South by Southwest festival experience doesn’t have to mean your fitness gets tossed out with the contents of the nearest ashtray.

For the first time, this year’s festival gets its own Wellness Expo at the Palmer Events Center, where fitness-centric people can watch demonstrations, attend workshops and listen to speakers.

To mark the SXSW World Premiere of “Walk With Me,” Thich Nhat Hanh’s monks and nuns featured in the movie held a series of walking meditations and mindfulness sessions. HANDOUT

The expo, open to badge holders and the general public, is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 10-11 at the center, 900 Barton Springs Road. Besides an array of folks eager to talk about supplements, fitness gear, clean eating, exercise and wellness retreats, it will include a bookstore area where authors will sign their works, plus a lounge where attendees can take a break or catch up on emails.

Wellness innovators will give talks and participate in panel discussions at the SXSW Wellness Expo Stage. Fitness and healthy living companies will showcase their brands and host demos and workshops on the expo floor. And outside at the Fitness Stage, attendees can join in all kinds of classes, from yoga to high intensity interval training, dance and strength training. (Look for Lauren Ash of Black Girl in Om, Derek Flanzraich of Greatist, former Longhorn football players Vince Young and Jeremy Hills, and Youtube influencer Adriene Mishler of Yoga With Adriene.)

This year’s SXSW Festival includes a Fitness Expo at the Long Center. HANDOUT

The Trail Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to maintain and enhance the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail around Lady Bird Lake, will receive all the proceeds from this year’s KUTX Live at The Four Seasons, 98 San Jacinto Boulevard. Entry to the early morning broadcasts are scheduled for 7-11 a.m. March 14-16 and 8 a.m.-noon March 17. Admission is $15 for adults and $5 for children under 12 and includes coffee and breakfast tacos. All donations will be used to beautify the portion of the trail in front of the Four Seasons hotel.

Cyclists and foodies Lentine Alexis, Kate Powlison, Alaina Sullivan and Tom Vanderbilt will talk about how motion impacts the way we crave what we crave, how it shapes our sense of taste, and how using a bike to get around or exercise impacts what we choose to eat at the “Pedaler’s Palate: Food, Cycling + How They Collide” session from 11 a.m. to noon March 13 at the JW Marriott, Salon C. Entry with music badge, platinum badge, film badge or interactive badge.

Head to the Clive Bar, 609 Davis Street, for plenty of workout options. On Friday, HEAT Bootcamp will lead sessions at noon and 2 p.m.; and Wanderlust yoga will lead a class at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, Wanderlust will lead a yoga session at 8 a.m., Ro Fitness and ThriveOnLife will lead sessions at 9:30 and 10:30, 45 (POWA’d by Sphere) with ThriveOnLife will hold sessions at noon and 2 p.m. DJs will spin music both nights.

Montannah Kenney of Austin hopes to become the youngest girl to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this month. Photo by Georges Schemagin

An Austin 7-year-old is angling to become the youngest girl to summit Mount Kilimanjaro.

Montannah Kenney, a second-grader at River Ridge Elementary School, has been hiking up and down hills around Austin in preparation for her trek, which is set to begin March 10. If all goes as planned, she’ll reach the top of the tallest free-standing mountain in the world on March 17 or 18.

The two are heading to Tanzania in memory of Montannah’s dad, who died a week after Montannah’s third birthday in 2013.

Montannah will begin her trek on March 10 and hopes to summit on March 17 or 18. Photo by Georges Schemagin

“The higher I go, the closer I am to him in heaven,” Montannah says.

Don’t worry, she’s pretty tough. A triathlete, swimmer and runner who plays basketball and soccer, she’s always followed the lead of her mother, Hollie Kenney, 45, a former professional triathlete who now runs a swim coaching business and leads the volunteer program for Team Beef. Together, they have been hiking the Hill of Life and Riverplace to strengthen their legs for their adventure.

Montannah describes her training as “really long.”

“Sometimes my friends come with us and sometimes my mom makes me do math problems when we see signs of how far we have gone, and how far we have to go,” Montannah says.

Montannah Kenney

An estimated 25,000 people set out to climb the 19,341-foot mountain each year; about two-thirds make it to the top. Park rules require that climbers be 10 years old, but officials also issue special permits for younger climbers, which Montannah has obtained.

Currently, Roxy Getter of Florida, who was 8 when she made the climb, holds the record for the youngest female; Keats Boyd of Los Angeles was 7 when he climbed. The oldest climber to date was 88 when he slogged his way up. (You can check all the records, including records for the fastest ascent and descent, here.)

Conditions vary along the route, but the Kenneys will probably face temperature extremes from 90 degrees down to well below freezing – and winds like freight trains. They say they are prepared for very non-Texas conditions of snow or sleet.

“I want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro because it would be a fun adventure with my mom, and because it would be really cool to try to break the world record, but I would want to climb it anyway because I don’t care if I break it,” Montannah says.

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About the Author

Pam LeBlanc writes about fitness and travel for the Austin American-Statesman. She has worked for the Statesman since 1998 and written her weekly fitness column, Fit City, since 2004.

Pam rides a bicycle to work, swims on a team and runs with her girlfriends. All her hobbies, from scuba diving to horseback riding and snow skiing, involve bulky gear. She lives in Austin with her husband, who is really good at applying bandages and ice packs.